


Nigh Impossible

by andapanda



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Dyad (Star Wars), Jedi Rey (Star Wars), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Primarily Reylo but other ships pop up, Rating May Change, Rey Needs A Hug, Slow Burn, Smuggler Ben Solo, rey loves food
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:55:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22564375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andapanda/pseuds/andapanda
Summary: A Long Time Ago In a Galaxy Far Far Away....In Another Universe....Ever wonder what would happen if things had happened just a little bit differently?Alternatively. Smuggler Ben Solo runs into scavenger Rey of Jakku and brings her to the Jedi order. While she tries to settle with the Order, He realizes that taking her off of Jakku put more attention on him than he would like.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 7
Kudos: 46





	1. A Chance Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a rework of a fic I originally posted on the 4th of February 2016

The scorching rays of the desert sun seared into his skin as he kicked the durasteel hull of his shuttle. Ben wanted to break things, cut them with his lightsaber or shoot something, anything he could do to calm down, but his ship was already damaged enough and he couldn’t risk damaging it even further while still trapped in the middle of nowhere.

Well, not _completely_ in the middle of nowhere. Though Jakku was pretty close to being that.

He had been lucky enough to crash only a couple or so klicks from an outpost, assuming his navigation system was still functioning correctly. He might still need to walk through the desert as he had no idea how his speeder bike had fared in the crash.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down a bit, Ben went inside his ship to check his speeder. As if some of his prayers had been answered in the mess he had found himself in, the speeder was thankfully in good enough condition for travel.

Now he just needed to get it out of the shuttle.

It took Ben longer than he had wanted as the cargo doors had gotten stuck in the crash and he had to force them open manually. Once he was finally done getting the speeder out and shutting the doors again, the sun was lower in the sky and it was quickly getting colder.

Without having any time to waste, he rushed to prepare his water canteen and threw on a poncho and some goggles to shield himself from the wind blown sand as he rushed through the dunes and made his way to where Niima outpost was supposed to be.

He made sure that his blaster was secured in its holster strapped to his thigh and his lightsaber clipped to his belt before he mounted the speeder. The sand puffed up in a flurry behind him as he sped forward, the wind blowing grains of sand into his hair.

Thankfully his navigation system was still accurate enough, and after a short trip on his speeder he saw the small outpost come into view. He grumbled as he saw exactly how small it was, he needed to be sure that he could get what he needed to get off this dustball and hopefully never come back.

What gave Ben some hope was the fact that it was Hutt territory which usually meant that there should be some things of value in the dingy outpost, though he did hope it wasn’t just the living kind of merchandize the Hutts often favoured.

He pulled his goggles down to hang around his neck as he parked his speeder, he scanned his surroundings, no one seemed chained and instead he saw people cleaning and trading parts, which was a great relief to Ben as he dragged his fingers through his hair. He could tell that some parts were old, possibly from the Clone Wars even, but the only thing that mattered to Ben was if it would work. He could get more recent parts on Corellia or Fondor once he’s off Jakku.

With the outpost being so small, it didn’t take him very long to find a concession stand. It looked like it was the only one so he imagined that the Junk Boss was pretty pleased with that, considering it gave him a monopoly over the outpost. Now Ben just had to hope he would have reasonable prices, which wasn’t very likely.

There was a line in front of the stand, although it was short, thankfully. Mostly occupied by older scavengers, Ben noted, and was certain that it was because Jakku didn’t get many travelers. There was a reason why it was considered to be pretty much nowhere despite it being in the Inner Rim.

As the scavengers in front of Ben traded in their finds for portions, he noticed that they never really bartered with the Crolute junk boss. With a subtle glance around the stand, he spotted the thugs standing close.

 _That would explain it._ Ben thought, the junk boss didn't only have a monopoly over business in the outpost, he had a stranglehold over the scavengers as well.

“Not many off-worlders come to these parts.”

Ben was pulled from his thoughts as the blob of a man in the concession stand addressed him. The scavengers in front of him were already gone and he mentally kicked himself for not paying enough attention.

“I’m not here by choice.” Ben stated, he mostly just wanted to get this over with. “I need parts.”

“For what?” The Crolute asked, a glint in his eyes at the prospect of profit.

“ _Upsilon_ -Class Cargo Shuttle.” Ben explained, making sure to keep a close eye on the thugs standing close just in case. “Modified.”

“And what parts do you need?” The blobby man said as he leaned forward.

“A SJA-S compatible Hyperdrive Power Feed most importantly.” Ben began before he listed some of the smaller parts he didn’t need as urgently.

“Hmm that’s quite an important part you need.” The Crolute said as he stroked his massive chin.

“But not rare.” Ben shot back with narrowed eyes.

The junk boss took a moment to think of a price, one that Ben just knew wasn’t going to be cheap.

“Eight-hundred credits for the whole lot.” He finally said after some time of thinking.

Ben’s eyes might as well have shot right out of their sockets at that price. “That’s ridiculous! this is second hand crap that might not even work that well, I’ll give you three-hundred at most.”

“You’re asking for quite a lot and I have limited stocks.” The Crolute defended himself.

Ben ran his hand through his hair in frustration, he had enough credit to pay for what he needed but not enough if he wanted to get it properly fixed later on. His last run didn’t go well and was the reason why he was now stuck in the first place. Plus the bastards hadn’t paid the rest.

“Five-hundred or no deal.” Ben finally said, he still didn’t like paying that high an amount for those parts.

“No deal then.” The junk boss said before he closed his shutter, leaving Ben standing more frustrated than before.

If the shutters hadn’t been shut in his face, he’s certain that he would have pulled the pudgy creature out by his chin. Instead he settled with hitting the shutters hard enough to leave a small dent for not even bothering with bartering.

Ben noticed that the thugs that had been standing around the concession stand had moved and a couple he couldn’t see anymore. He didn’t trust the situation not to turn bad if he stayed so he quickly moved towards where he parked his speeder, being careful to keep an eye out for anyone who might want to follow him.

He didn’t want to waste time checking over his speeder before he left Niima outpost, only giving it a quick glance over and not seeing anything out of the ordinary. He just barely remembered to put his goggles back on before he was speeding away and back to his shuttle.

As much as he wanted to take a longer way back to his shuttle, his speeder didn’t have a navigation system of it’s own and he’d rather not get lost. So Ben went fast, fast enough to hear his speeder groan from the strain.

It didn’t take him long to reach his shuttle and he was immediately on guard as he saw a speeder parked by. It was red and bulky, definitely custom made, and judging by the amount of scrap hanging from its side, it wasn’t one of the thugs.

But even if it was just a scavenger, that didn’t mean it was any better. He couldn’t afford to lose any more of the ship than he already had.

Ben carefully stopped his speeder, trying his best to make as little sound as he could. He couldn’t see anyone outside the shuttle so he suspected that the scavenger was inside. Which he didn’t like at all since it probably meant that his security system was busted now too.

As he suspected, the blast doors were wide open, some sand having already blown inside. He carefully brought up his blaster, not wanting to use his saber in such a tight space.

Each step was careful, he had no idea how the person inside would react to his arrival. If they would realise that he was the owner or if they would just think him another scavenger.

With some help from the force, Ben managed to find where the scavenger was in the shuttle and he slowly made his way there. As prone to violence he himself could be, right now he wanted to avoid it.

When he finally saw the scavenger, she was sitting with her back away from him. Hair tightly bound in three buns at the back of her head and wraps of cloth cascading off her. There was something about her that intrigued Ben and he hadn’t even seen her face, nor by the looks of it had she noticed that she wasn’t alone anymore.

It was then when he noticed that she was holding something familiar, his mother's lightsaber. The one she had given him when he had begun his Jedi training so he’d always have her with him. He wasn’t sure why he had kept it, but now, seeing this scavenger marvel at its elegance, he was glad that he did.

The blue glow of the lightsaber being lit brought Ben out of his thoughts, he had to be even more careful now in notifying her that she wasn’t alone anymore. If he startled her she could cause more damage or possibly hurt herself.

He quietly holstered his blaster, taking careful steps as not to startle the scavenger in front of him. “Careful there Swee-”

The scavenger turned around quickly, obviously on guard and Ben hadn’t realised that the lightsaber had been close enough to touch him until the blade was at his forehead. The smell of seared flesh hit his nostrils before the pain did.

“MOTHER OF-- _kriff!”_ Ben cursed as he held his face, trying to ignore the burning feeling as his now ruined poncho fell to the ground. The burning pain shooting through him from the cauterised flesh stretching from his right shoulder to the top of his forehead.

“I am so sorry, I didn’t..I’m sorry!” The scavenger apologised as the saber deignited and dropped to the floor.

“Oh I’m sure you are!” He shot back a little more aggressively than needed.

“You startled me!” She defended herself.

“Then maybe don’t sneak into ships that aren’t yours!” Ben yelled.

“Maybe don’t leave your damaged ship on a planet full of scavengers then!” She yelled back.

“I’m not here by choice!” He hissed back.

“Just tell me where your bacta patches are!” She said as she began looking around the room.

“Down the hall right before the cockpit!” Ben said as he pointed in the general direction of the medpac. Realising a little too late that she might just grab it and run.

Thankfully she came back quickly, medpac in hand. “Sit down.”

“Why?” Ben asked, giving her a sceptical look.

“Just let me help you.” She said with a sigh. “I owe you this much after cutting your face open.”

“Yes because I should trust you after that too.” Ben said sardonically.

“You are so frustrating, I’m just trying to help!” She said, ready to throw the medpac and just leave.

“Fine!” He said as he begrudgingly sat down on the ground like she had instructed.

“Thank you.” She sighed as she crouched down next to him and placed the pac next to them. “I’m Rey.”

“Ben.” He replied, watching her closely as she began rummaging through the medpac.

“I am really sorry.” Rey said as he gathered what she needed. “But why do you have a lightsaber.”

“It was my mother’s.” He stated.

“Why did your mother have one? Was she a Jedi?” Rey asked with an excited glint in her eye.

“No, she wasn't a Jedi.” Ben answered her, hoping that she wouldn’t ask more questions.

“But I thought only Jedi had lightsabers?” She questioned him as she gathered up the antiseptic.

“Not necessarily.” He said and unclipped his own saber from his belt to show her.

“Why would you need a lightsaber?” She asked before she began cleaning the wound with antiseptic.

Ben hissed at the sting, trying his best to keep his face from scrunching up due to the wound itself. “I have one, that’s it.”

“Does that mean you can use the Force?” She finished cleaning the wound though, because despite having been cauterised it would still look gnarly until someone could stitch it properly.

“Yes.” He simply answered, glad that she was done with the antiseptic.

“Then why aren’t you a jedi?” She questioned as she picked up the spray bandage. “How’s your eye?”

“My eye is fine.” Ben said even if he was seeing spots from the bright light as well as ignoring her first question.

“If you can use the Force, how did you crash?” Rey asked before signaling him to close his eye.

He did as she said so she could spray the spray-bandage over his wound. “Are you going to keep asking questions?”

“They’re valid questions.” She defended herself as she packed up the medpac again.

“It got shot.” He explained with a sigh. Trying to to think back to the mess that had resulted in his current situation.

“And your ship getting shot busted your hyperdrive power feed, landing gear _and_ thrusters?” She said, catching Ben off guard.

“How did you figure that out?” He asked her, wondering how long she had been here.

“I know starships.” She explained as she stood up with the medpac in hand. “Is that why you left?”

“I needed parts.” Ben said and stood up with her. “Bastard overcharged though so, no parts.”

“Why didn’t you just use that Jedi control thingy?” She asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“It’s not that simple.” He stated and held out his hand for her to give him the medpac.

“Seems that simple to me.” She shrugged as she handed him the pac. “But Unkar Plutt isn’t just going to let you go.”

“I figured.” He sighed. “And I’ve wasted enough time already.”

“And what are you going to do?” She asked as she followed him towards the cockpit. “It’s not like you can fly this thing as is.”

“And what do you suggest I do?” He turned to face her again. “Sit tight and wait for him or his thugs to show up?”

“I can fix it.” Rey stated confidently. “It won’t be permanent but enough to at least get off Jakku...I think.”

“You think?” Ben scoffed. “And what if you’re wrong?”

“What other options do you have?” She shot back, she knew her ships and was sure of her skills. She could fix it.

Ben looked at her for a moment, noticing her resolve, she had some doubts but was certain about something. “What do you want in return?”

“What?” Rey said with surprise.

“I don’t suppose you’ll fix my ship for free.” Ben sighed. “What do you want?”

Rey stopped to think, she knew what she wanted. She just didn’t expect him to accept as quickly as he did considering he’d been so frustrating so far. “I want off this planet.”

“Where to?” He asked, not surprised by her wanting to leave the dirtball.

“Anywhere, I don’t care.” She said with more conviction.

“Deal.” He said as he turned back around to head to the cockpit and put away the medpac. “What will you need?”

“I have most everything on my speeder but do you have an Arc Welder?” She asked with a grin.

Ben nodded and went to get it while she ran to her speeder, being sure to look at the horizon. The sun was low in the sky now and she could start seeing the pin pricks of stars in the sky. But no sign of Plutt’s men yet.

She got the parts she needed from what she had scavenged that day, no point in keeping them to trade if she was leaving Jakku. She patted the bag hanging off her belt to make sure it had her tools in them and went back inside the shuttle.

“I didn’t see anyone.” She shouted to let Ben know while she found the latch on the floor to reach the Hyperdrive and quickly got to work.

Ben ran to where she was in the ship, handing her the welder as he saw her hand shoot up from the floor. “I’ll keep an eye out.”

The power feed was pretty busted so Rey really had to be careful in fixing it. If she did it wrong the thing could blow in the middle of Hyperspace and send the ship careening into some random part of Realspace and no one wanted that. Using the tools to make a makeshift patch for the pipe.

When she was happy with it, she jumped out of the latch and shut it with her foot, ready to go for the thrusters.

“They’re coming!” Ben shouted from the Shuttle doors.

“I still need to do the thrusters!” She called back as she ran past him.

Ben then noticed his speeder, still sitting outside in the sand. Cursing to himself as he knew that he’d have to leave it behind since the cargo doors were still bent and he had _just_ managed to close them before he left earlier.

“You’ll have to live with the busted landing gear!” She called from behind the shuttle.

“It’s fine!” Ben shouted as he watched the sand trails from Plutt’s men come closer.

“Done! Get the ship ready!” Rey called.

Ben didn’t hesitate to run to the cockpit and crashing down in his chair. Quickly flipping switches to activate the ship. It shook as the thrusters heated up and the ship slowly began to move, the sand that had collected on top of it shaking off.

“Hurry!” Rey yelled as she shut the shuttle doors behind her.

“I am!” Ben yelled back, the ship lifting up with more of a shake than he liked. “Strap in, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

Rey did as he said, quickly strapping herself into the seat next to him. Watching as he flipped more switches and the ship shakily flew higher before the thrusters began doing their thing. The strain of the patched up durasteel audible throughout the ship.

She was nervous about leaving, she had her connection to the planet but had realised that it was time to move on. And now she had the chance to do it so... long as her patchwork held during proper space travel, that is.

The ship jerked suddenly.

“They’re shooting at us.” Ben said, a bit more calmly than he expected.

“Time to go then?” Rey asked.

“Time to go.” He confirmed as the thrusters kicked in and they were gone, leaving Unkar Plutt’s men in the dust.

The sandy dunes flew past beneath them before he steered the ship upwards. The ship groaned and shook as they shot through the atmosphere of the planet, the shaking finally stopping as they were through.

Ben looked at Rey as she marvelled at the planet below them, though she had a look of amazement but there was something else behind it, something sombre.

“I did it…” She whispered, eyes still glued to the sandy planet below.

“We’ll go to Corellia.” Ben said as he prepared the ship for Hyperspace. “Hopefully your fix works.”

“It will!” Rey affirmed, she trusted her skills, though granted she had rarely had the chance to see her fixes in action.

“We’ll see.” He said as he pushed the throttle and the stars streaked around them.

The ship shook more than normal as they travelled through the Hyperdrive lane, it worried Ben but it looked like it would hold for the time being.

“We’ll be a few hours.” Ben stated as he leaned back in his seat and ran his hand through his hair.

When Rey didn’t respond, he looked at her, she had the same amazed but sombre look on her face. He was curious as to why and gently reached out with the Force to see what was in her head, making sure not to go deep enough for her to feel any pain.

He saw two people, fuzzy and vague, he could barely tell their features.

“Your parents…” He blurted out.

“What?” Rey turned to look at him, suddenly noticing something off.

“How did...you’re in my head!” She realised.

Ben was surprised she had noticed so quickly, it usually took a lot longer for others to realise he was probing, if at all. Yet she had done it instantly, something he had only experienced with Jedi or his family, even his father surprisingly enough.

“...Solo?” She suddenly said.

“How did you…” Ben wondered before he realised it.

She was now in _his_ head.

“Skywalker...your family…” Rey unknowingly probed further, causing Ben to violently push her out before she went too far.

“You’re Force sensitive.” He said, his eyes wide in shock. Of all the people he managed to run into, it had to be someone Force sensitive.  
  
“I’m what?” She furrowed her brows, giving him a questioning look. “That’s impossible.”

“The Force isn’t exactly picky.” Ben said as he began rubbing his face, stopping as he irritated his wound.

“I don’t...I don’t understand.” She said as she leaned back in her chair, staring out the transparisteel window.

“You’ll need a teacher.” Ben stated with a sigh, realising where he’d need to take her once they were done on Corellia.

“And are you going to teach me?” She huffed, unsure of what to think.

“Believe me, you wouldn’t want me as your teacher.” Ben said as he scratched his head. “Besides, I don’t need another reason for the Jedi council not to like me.”

“So, what then?” Rey asked, still staring at the rushing blue of the Hyperdrive lane.

“There’s a Jedi Temple on Coruscant, I’ll take you there.” Ben explained to her, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the yoke tighter.

“But aren’t I little old?” She gestured to herself. “I thought Jedi start training really young.”

“They usually do.” He began as he looked over to her. “They started making exceptions a long time ago though, they’ll probably accept you.”

“Probably?” she quirked a brow as she finally looked at him.

“Probably.” He confirmed with a nod.

“What’s Coruscant like?” She curiously asked, admittedly trying to keep her thoughts away from the whole Jedi thing.

“The whole place is a city so it’s crowded.” Ben said, thinking back to the massive ecumenopolis. “The opposite of Jakku I guess.”

“Sounds intense.” She said as she tried to imagine something like that.

“It is.” He agreed, the corner of his lips twitching up. “Think you can handle it?”

“I’ve never shied away from a challenge before.” She smiled, though the challenges she had grown used to would be nothing like the one ahead of her.

“Have you been there a lot?” She wondered, having noticed how his expression changed when he talked about Coruscant.

“Not in a long time.” He admitted, desperately wanting to change the subject but unsure of how, as his conversation skills were lacking.

“Why not?” She asked.

“Because.” He said through clenched teeth.

Rey looked at him, his short answers beginning to get on her nerves only to finally spot his clenched fists around the yoke and tense jaw. She realised that she probably should change the subject.

“Earlier, the Force thing.” Rey began trying to steer the conversation in a different direction. “You’re Han Solo’s son? The smuggler.”

Ben couldn’t help but roll his eyes, of course she’d know who his father was. “Unfortunately.”

“Why unfortunately? Is he the reason why you’re a smuggler?” The questions simply spilled from her.

He didn’t want to answer her, he didn’t want to think about his family most likely waiting back on Coruscant. Their disappointment in him or what had led him to leave in the first place. But this random girl from the desert was bringing it all back up in only a few minutes.  
  
“Did you fly with him?” Rey finally asked.  
  
This was the last straw for Ben and he snapped. “Stop asking questions!”  
  
Rey was startled by his outburst and didn’t know what to say or do. She realised that she must have struck a nerve and her curiosity had gotten the better of her.  
  
He didn’t move, his hands still tightly wound around the yoke and his teeth still clenched together as he tried to control his breathing to calm himself down.  
  
They sat in silence for the rest of the trip to Corellia. Neither one daring to speak up again and so were left with their thoughts as they rushed through the Hyperdrive lane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank my lovely Beta's who make sure I don't post shit.
> 
> As well as you can find me over on tumblr as Chioccetta where I might post art related to this AU or if you want to ask me any questions or something, idk


	2. A Day Together

Rey couldn’t help but marvel as Corellia came into view, the vast oceans was what she noticed first. She had never seen so much water in her life. It was such a precious resource on Jakku that the idea of there being large bodies of water was always such a foreign idea to her.

What amazed her even more was that it was raining as they entered the atmosphere. Something that happened so rarely on Jakku that Rey could probably count each time with one hand.

But it was difficult for Rey to enjoy the sights due to the shaking of the shuttle.

Ever since they had exited hyperspace the ship had been shaking harshly and it only got worse as they entered the atmosphere. Rey guessed that her patch on the power feed was done for but the thrusters were probably fine for now.

“ _Silencer_ requesting landing in repair bay.” Ben said, finally breaking the silence.

“Not going to be much of a landing.” Rey pointed out as she remembered the state of the landing gear.

Ben’s lips twitched slightly, their landing was going to be rough and they’d be lucky if they didn’t break half the repair bay. And he’d be lucky if he didn’t have to pay for said damages.

_“Repair Bay nine ready to receive you Silencer.”_ Came from the radio.

“Keep it clear, landing gear is damaged.” Ben warned them as he began steering towards the bay.

_“Copy that.”_ The voice said.

Rey subconsciously grabbed her seat tighter, from excitement or nervousness she didn’t know. She looked past the trailing drops of water on the transparisteel window of the shuttle and at the city that stretched across the horizon.

She could see the other starships come in and out of the shipyard in front of them. Freighters, shuttles and even a few starfighters were flying around and on the ground. And as their shuttle turned to the repair bay, she saw more ships surrounded by people fixing them.

“Hold on.” Ben said as they began their descent.

They shook the whole way down, the jerking growing more violent as they slowed down. They couldn’t help but worry about the shuttle’s integrity despite the ship surviving a trip through Hyperspace and entering the planet’s atmosphere.

The landing was rough to say the least, the damaged landing gear not being able to extend and the underside of the shuttle scraped against the repair bay floors - causing Ben to wince.

As the shuttle shut down they both let out a breath they didn’t realize they had been holding. Staying seated as they calmed their nerves.

Ben moved first, making his way to the shuttle doors to open them and greet the engineers outside.

“ _What_ did you do to her?” The engineer exclaimed as the doors opened. “What happened to _you_?”

“Warbird Gang and Jakku, in that order.” Ben explained quickly to the dark haired man.

“I...guess that explains it.” He said as he shook his head. “But you should get a new shirt.”

Ben looked down at his shirt that had been burned from the lightsaber in a way that partially revealed his chest. He grumbled as he went back inside to change his shirt, running into Rey as he did so.

“Engineer is outside.” Ben supplied before he kept walking to his quarters.

Rey shrugged as he passed her, not bothering to ask any more questions after his last outburst. Instead she decided to introduce herself to the engineer he mentioned, making her way to the shuttle.

She spotted the man inspecting the side of the shuttle and stopped next to him. “Hello.”

The man jerked his head to the side in surprise. “Hello there.”

“Did you come with Solo?” He asked with a look of confusion.

“I did.” She said, guessing from his look that this was something new. “We made a deal.”

“A deal, huh?” He huffed, understanding the situation now. “What’s your name?”

“Rey.” She supplied.

“I’m Ingo Salik.” He introduced himself right as Ben returned from the shuttle wearing a loose black sweater.

“Glad you two are getting along.” He said as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“So is she warbird or Jakku?” Ingo jokingly asked.

“Jakku.” Rey answered. “What’s Warbird?”

“The bastards that broke our deal and shot at me.” Ben said with clear annoyance in his voice.

“Oh so you’re okay with questions again?” Rey asked sardonically.

Ben rolled his eyes and sighed, turning his attention to Ingo instead. “Will this take long?”

“Well, there’s the initial examination then the actual repairs.” Ingo explained. “It’ll be a few hours to a day so I hope you’re not in a hurry.”

“Try to be quick, alright.” Ben insisted, he didn’t want to delay the trip to Coruscant for longer than he had to.

“We’ll do what we can, in the meantime, you should go to a medcenter.” Ingo suggested as he left to get something to move the shuttle into a better position.

Ben knew that he was right, though he had grown numb to the pain so long as he didn’t move his right shoulder to much or touch the area around the wound. He was grateful that he had stopped seeing spots at least.

“I’ll be heading to Coronet city.” Ben sighed. “You stay here.”

“Excuse me?” Rey questioned, not liking the idea of being left behind to do nothing. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

“Can you guarantee that you won’t get lost?” Ben pointed out.

“Then I’ll go with you.” She said as she crossed her arms. “That way I won’t get lost.”

“You’re not coming with me.” He stated, crossing his own arms.

“You can’t tell me what to do.” She glared at him, she was _not_ going to stay behind for hours on her first non-desert planet.

“You’re infuriating.” He said and glared right back at her.

“ _You’re_ infuriating.” She shot back.

The two glared at each other with crossed arms for a couple of minutes, neither one wanting to budge.

“ _Fine_.” Ben caved, throwing his arms into the hair. “Do what you want.”

Rey grinned at her small victory and began walking to the opening of the bay. “Are you coming?”

He sighed and shook his head, wondering if accepting that deal was really that good of an idea.

“Hope you don’t mind the rain.” He said as he walked past her to lead the way towards a train station.

Rey didn’t mind the rain, in all honesty, she was ecstatic to be able to experience it. She didn’t mind how her clothes became soaked and her skin itched beneath the wet fabric. She didn’t mind the feeling of wet drops cascading down her face, in fact she loved it. Which only added to the disappointment when they reached the train station’s shelter.

Ben was decidedly less ecstatic about the rain. It was accelerating the degrading process of the spray bandage and air was starting to get through causing the wound to sting. His one saving grace was that at least he was on the way to a medcenter.

It was a short wait for the train and the city wasn’t far either, so it was a short trip. But Rey enjoys every second of it. She peered out the window the whole time, watching as they left the shipyard and entered the city. The tall buildings something Rey had only dreamed of.

She thought she might be disappointed once she stepped off the train, but as she stood in the city, the towers around her and the air speeders flying above her and more people than she had seen in her whole life combined.

It was a little much she would admit. But she wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Ben almost didn't want to break her away from her thoughts, seeing her marvel at the new sights around her was kind of cute.

“There’s a medcenter down here.” He finally said, pointing in the general direction,

Rey couldn’t help but quirk a brow as she noticed how familiar he seemed with the area. “I take it you’ve been there before.”

Ben didn’t respond, only giving her a huff and beginning to walk towards the medcenter. He was very grateful that there were covers the whole way, shielding them from the rain for a little longer.

The medcenter looked like it was having a slow day, only a couple of people sitting in the waiting room while the receptionist droid welcomed Ben and Rey as they entered.

_“Welcome, how can we help you?”_ The droid said.

“I have an open wound that needs closing.” Ben groaned at the cheap droid the medcenter had probably bought second hand.

_“Name?”_ The cheap droid asked.

“Ben Solo.” He said with a sigh, somewhat thankful that at least the wound wasn’t _that_ serious.

_“Thank you, the doctor will be right with you, please take a seat.”_ The droid gestured to the waiting are.

Rey simply stared on, wondering if this was common for medcenters or if it was just this one. She hoped it was just this one for the sake of everyone’s health.

They sat down in the corner for the waiting room, away from the two other patients waiting to be seen.

“Is this normal?” Rey asked curiously.

“For a cheap clinic.” Ben answered, having already resigned himself.

“That’s reassuring.” She said sarcastically as she looked around at the sterile white waiting room.

There was some sort of music playing in the room for entertainment, but that was it. And it was driving Rey insane. She was used to days where she didn’t have much to do, when she was stuck in her makeshift home and somehow the fact that she had some generic music playing made sitting still unbearable.

She needed to change this. “Let’s make a deal.”

“What?” Ben asked as he gave her a confused look.

“Let’s make a deal.” Rey repeated. “I ask a question, then you can ask a question.”

“I don’t have questions.” He sighed and crossed his arms.

“Then at least let me ask questions while we’re stuck here.” She said with conviction, she needed to do _something_.

Ben looked at her for a moment, he really didn’t want to answer her questions, especially the ones she undoubtedly had about his family. But he could tell that she looked just about ready to burst from sheer boredom. “Fine.”

Rey smiled brightly, she had many questions, but she also knew that from his previous outburst, she wouldn’t get answers to all of them. “How much of the galaxy have you seen?”

“A lot.” He answered her, believing that to be a good enough answer.

“Have you been to the unknown regions.” She followed up with.

“I have.” He said, thinking back to his first time in that part of the galaxy, when it was time for him to construct his lightsaber.

“Have you been there a lot.” She asked then, wondering if the unknown regions were different in any way,

“Not that often, there’s not much there to smuggle.” _Save for Kyber crystals maybe_ , he thought.

Rey couldn't help but wonder if she would have the chance to see any part of the unknown regions, or any other part of the galaxy for that matter. She knew that Jedi traveled all over the galaxy but she didn’t know if she would have the chance to do that, it all really depended on if they’d accept her.

“You were waiting on Jakku, for your parents. Why?” Ben asked this time, catching Rey off guard.

She took a moment to think about what to say, she knew why she waited, she just wasn’t sure if she was ready to say it. “There was an accident, we got separated.”

Ben nodded, he could tell from the furrow in her brow and the sad look in her eyes that this was a touchy subject for her. Something that they had in common evidently which made him feel somewhat relieved - that there was someone out there who might understand him.

She could have told him how she had been sold to Plutt, or how she counted the days and the walls of her makeshift home had been overtaken by the tally marks. She could have told him how she gave up on waiting and the reason she wanted to get off Jakku was because she wanted to look for them herself.

But she didn’t know how. “Can I ask you something?”

“Here I thought that’s what you’ve already been doing.” Ben smirked, though quickly regretting it once the sting from his irritated skin kicked in.

“I mean about your family.” She stated, wanting to hit him on the shoulder. Where had that snark even come from?

He looked at her, he really didn’t want to talk about his family. But he could see in her eyes that she really wanted to know something and for some reason, he wanted to tell her. “Fine. Ask.”

“Do you miss them?” She was asking more for herself if she was honest, she just wanted some sort of confirmation that she wasn’t alone.

Ben didn’t know how to answer, did he miss his family? He wasn’t sure, it had been six years since he had last seen them. There were a lot of feelings there to dissect, something he couldn’t afford to do after all this time.

“No.” He lied.

Rey could tell there was something he was hiding from her, it was obvious that this was a sore subject for him and she could understand that. She decided not to pry further, she got her answer, even if it wasn’t the one she was hoping for.

“So why the cheap medcenter?” She asked to divert the conversation into a more neutral territory.

“I need to afford the ship repairs.” He answered her, very thankful for the change of subject.

“But will your face be alright?” She couldn’t help but wonder, suddenly worried that they might disfigure his face even more than she had.

Ben chuckled, he didn’t care that much about what his face would look like at the end of the day, but it was sweet that she did - granted she was the cause of this. But it was nice having someone care for once.

Before she could respond by either asking him why he was laughing or simply hitting him on the shoulder, she was interrupted by the doctor finally calling his name up. He quickly stood up and greeted the doctor and she wasn’t sure what to do until she noticed that while the doctor had begun walking into his office, Ben was standing still, looking at her as he gestured with his head for her to follow.

The Sullustan doctor didn’t seem bothered by Rey being there while he cleaned the spray bandage off and activated a droid to close the wound. It was all a very quiet affair, it didn’t take very long for the droid to close the wound well enough for the doctor to put a patch over some of the microsutures on his cheek and shoulder.

When all was said and done and they were back outside of the medcenter, the rain had let up a little. Rey guessed that they were in there for maybe a couple of hours or so, considering their clothes were mostly dry and she was beginning to itch beneath them.

“So you think they did a good enough job for you.” Ben suddenly said and gestured to his face.

Rey couldn’t stop the laugh from breaking out, as intense and grumpy as he had come off - there was some humour to him. “Don’t know, might need to go back and get a refund.”

Ben let out a huff of a laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

The smile didn’t leave her face, this was probably the most positive moment between them and she liked it. As frustrating as he could be, there was something about him that peaked her curiosity.  
  


* * *

  
The next few hours were spent showing Rey around a part of the city. Ben wasn’t nearly enthusiastic as he was quite familiar with the area and the inhabitants were familiar enough with him to not like him all that much.

But Rey didn’t seem to notice the occasional dirty look shot their way, and if she did, it didn’t look like she cared. Maybe because she was to busy marvelling at the city before her.

“Are all cities this big?” She wondered as they walked down yet another street.

“Capital cities often are.” Ben explained. “But they’re all nothing compared to Coruscant.”

“You said it was a city planet, right?” She asked, trying to imagine something like that.

“It is, multiple levels too so it’s even bigger.” He said, with more ease than he expected.

“That’s amazing.” She muttered, wondering if she would have the chance to explore it.

She was pulled from her imaginings by some tantalizing smell she couldn’t recognize but guessed was food. It was then that she realized that it had been way to long she had last eaten.

As if he read her mind, Ben pointed to a turn in the street. “There’s a food Bazaar down that street.”

Rey was practically salivating now, knowing that the alluring scent was actually from something edible. The food she was used to was very rarely warm and almost never had any sort of smell, it was purely there for sustenance.

When they finally saw the bazaar, Rey was amazed, not only was she hit with the sheer amount of different scents permeating the air. But the colours were unlike anything she’d seen on food. She could easily spot the breads of course, but the golden crust simply looked divine. There were things she simply couldn’t describe, something that the cooks would put in a bubbling bath and pull out with a crunchy peel. Things that looked like something only the wealthy would eat prepared right in front of her eyes.

It felt like a dream.

“Close your mouth, you’re drooling.” Ben said, trying to pull her from her thoughts.

Ben watched as she panicked slightly, drying the small amount of drool dripping from the corner of her mouth. He could understand her reaction considering where she came from, he himself would admit that he had a similar reaction the first time his father had brought him there.

“Can I...Can I try everything?” Rey asked somewhat sheepishly. She didn’t want him to spend his credits on her, it made her feel like she was indebted to him. But for once, with so many different possible flavours to explore, it may quite well be worth it.

“You’ll get sick if you try.” Ben chuckled. “But I can get you the best ones.”

She followed him as he went to a few different stalls, buying food that looked increasingly better as they kept going. Eventually sitting down on a dry spot to the side of the bazaar, away from the crowds scrambling for their own food.

With the food placed in front of her, she had no idea where to begin. It all looked so good and the survivalist in her wanted to hoard everything and keep it for some time. But now she had the luxury to enjoy it and she wasn't going to waste it.

“Are you just going to keep staring at it?” Ben quirked his brow as he grabbed some of the Kodari rice.

“I’ve never seen this much food before, alright.” She tried defending herself, deciding to start with something she learnt was deep fried.

Once she had gotten the first taste, she could barely stop herself from stuffing her face with everything else. The taste was something she had only really dreamt of, flavours like these weren’t something that showed up on Jakku and that alone was enough to coax tears to her eyes.

Ben simply stared at her as she stuffed her face with the food. It was kind of endearing despite the messiness of it, seeing someone enjoy food to its fullest. Even if the quality of the food was subpar compared to many, she probably was used to much worse.

They spent a good while just sitting there and eating, Rey making sure not to waste a single bite so she didn’t talk and Ben simply enjoyed his food in the silence that had fallen over them in that moment.

Rey wiped her mouth as she finished the last bits of her food, she couldn’t remember a single moment in her life where she was actually full. It was something she would treasure, that she was sure of.

“We should probably go back to the repair bay.” Ben piped up as he noticed she was finally done. He himself having finished eating a good while ago and didn’t want to bother her.

“You think they’re done?” Rey asked as she noticed that the rain had stopped completely and it was starting to get quite dark.

“I’m hoping so.” He stated as he stood up and looked around to see if anyone had any less favourable intentions.

She nodded before she stood up as well. “Let’s go then.”

It didn’t take them very long to find a train station to take them back to the repair bay where they found Ingo again, who was going over some tools. He turned to look at them when he heard them walking towards him, giving them a small smile.

“Was that all they could do for your face?” Ingo joked as he put away the tools he was holding.

Ben rolled his eyes. “How's my ship?”

“We’ve fixed the important bits.” Ingo said as he gestured them to follow him further inside. “Just some minor touch ups left.”

“I can do those myself.” Ben stated as he ran his hand through his hair. “Just send me the invoice.”

Ingo nodded as the shuttle came into view. “That’s usually how you do things.”

“I don’t like people messing about my ship.” Ben said as he passed Ingo to head to his shuttle.

Rey just shrugged as she followed Ben to the ship, she could tell that it was in much better state now that it had been fixed - especially with it standing on its landing gear for once.

“We’ll send you the charge as usual.” Ingo called after him before he left to go back to his tools.

Ben didn’t acknowledge Ingo as he got back on his ship to make sure everything was in its right place. He didn’t like people going through his things especially when not all of them were entirely legal.

Rey entered the ship to find him walking around the ship and looking through each compartment, some she didn’t even know were even there in the first place. If she didn’t know he was a smuggler, she’d find it odd.

She didn’t know what to do while he looked around so she just stood there by the shuttle doors and watched him go back and forth down the main corridor. It was in this moment that she realized that this was probably the last time she would enter the ship if the Jedi council would accept her.

It made her a little melancholic.

“Everything’s good, we can go.” He said finally as he gestured her to go to the cockpit before he headed there himself.

Rey nodded as she followed him, trying to shake the sad feeling that had washed over her with each step. It was persistent but she managed to push it back enough for her to be able to ignore it for now.

She watched as the engineers that were walking by moved further away from the shuttle so they wouldn’t be in the way during take off. Ben didn’t seem to pay them any heed as he flipped switches and the ship came to life with not a single jerky shake to accompany it.

Then quickly after that they were in the air, the city coming into view as they left the repair bay, making Rey miss the food she had eaten less than an hour ago. She wondered if she would experience Coruscant in a similar way as she had experienced Coronet City.

Eventually the city faded out of view as they left the planet’s atmosphere and the void of space greeted them. Pinpricks of distant star systems the only thing they could see before more switches were flicked and their view stretched as they entered Hyperspace, finally heading to Coruscant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted this chapter a little bit later than planned but it's here!
> 
> The plan I currently have is to try and post 1 chapter once a week staying a couple of chapters ahead, so I have written the next two chapters already but will keep up my posting schedule.
> 
> Anyway, thanks to my lovely beta's as usual and thank you for reading, hope you enjoy!


	3. A Home

Rey was sitting at the edge of her seat as the shuttle shot out of hyperspace. The nervousness and excitement had made her fidget in her seat for nearly the whole trip, it was almost enough to distract her from the sight of the city wide planet.

But once it came into view, she couldn’t help but gape.

It almost blended with the void of space with the nearly endless amount of city lights dotting the night side of the planet. As they came closer, she could tell that some lights were moving -  _ air-speeders _ , she guessed.

She barely registered Ben saying something into the radio as they hovered just above the planet’s atmosphere. Her focus was completely on the globe below, eyes tracing each row and spiral of light.

The intense focus wasn’t disturbed as they finally descended onto the planet, letting Rey finally see the skyscrapers in all their glory. It was like something right out of her dreams, Jakku had been so flat and lifeless while she was now surrounded by the jagged skyline of a planet teeming with life.

Finally managing to bring herself out of her head, she looked towards Ben to ask him some questions about Coruscant. But when she spotted his tight grip on the yoke and the tenseness in his jaw, she decided not to say anything.

Maybe one day she would know about his gripe with the planet.

As they flew closer to the shipyard and the Jedi Temple was in clear view, Ben’s grip tightened. He had avoided this place for six years. He had been to Coruscant a few times for business but he diligently avoided the Federal District like the Karatos Plague.

Somehow he managed to land the ship as normal, as if his body was simply on autopilot as he came closer and closer to the Temple. He kept doing things in somewhat of a daze, opening the shuttle doors and lowering the entry ramp, talking to the workers while Rey stood by and looking around with wonder. He finally snapped out of it when it was finally time to go.

“Come on.” Ben whispered as he just barely gestured for her to follow him to the airbus station.

Rey furrowed her brows as she watched him lead her, ever since their descent on the planet his whole demeanor had changed. It was mildly worrying and she wanted to know why this place bothered him so much.

She wanted to know what had happened here.

But she stayed quiet as they waited for the airbus to arrive, and she remained quiet as they were transported across the city towards the large building with a crown of five spires that she guessed to be the Jedi Temple.

As they got closer to the Temple, Rey was amazed by just how large it was. Though everything on the planet was large compared to what she was used to, the Temple seemed to tower over everything else. It inspired a feeling of awe.

Once they stepped off the platform, the massive building looked even more imposing causing Rey to hesitate. All previous excitement now thrown out the window and only the nervousness remained.

For the first time,  _ both _ of them wanted to turn around and run in the opposite direction.

But they gingerly made their way towards the imposing Temple, each step feeling heavier than the last. Neither one able to bring themselves to say anything as the main entrance came into view.

As it was late there weren’t many people around the Temple, but the few that were stopped whatever they were doing when they spotted Ben. Whispers following soon after that he worked hard to ignore.

The whispers and looks didn’t subside as they began walking up a set of stairs. It made Rey even more curious about Ben’s past, she wanted to know what he did to elicit such a response.

“Ben?” It was a quiet mutter of his name, but it was enough to silence every whisper in the Temple.

Rey whipped around to see who it was coming from. She was greeted with an old man at the bottom of the stairs, with neatly trimmed salt and pepper hair and beard. Wearing the traditional Jedi robes that she had heard of.

What surprised her was the look on the mans face. It was pure surprise with a glint of sadness and hope in his blue eyes.

“That  _ is  _ you…” The old man whispered as his eyes were locked on Ben.

Rey looked back around to Ben to see how he would react, only to see that he hadn’t moved, still with his back facing the man trying to speak to him.

The old man looked like he had so much to say, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to find the right words. “Ben-”

“I’m just here to drop her off.” Ben finally spoke up, still not turning around. “She’s Force sensitive.”

The old man finally looked at Rey, who was quite confused by the whole exchange, but didn’t know if she should say anything.

“Is that the only reason?” The old man asked.

Ben finally turned around to face him. “Yes.”

Rey had never felt as awkward in her life, she was stuck right between them and had no idea what to do. She decided that she didn’t like people anymore if  _ this _ was something that could happen. 

She noticed someone else walking towards them and hoped that this would mean the awkwardness would finally end.

“I have every right to arrest you right now, Ben Solo.” The new person said.

Rey was wrong, it got worse.

“Try it.” He bit back, his fingers twitching as he made a note of the blaster strapped to his thigh and his lightsaber clipped to the back of his belt.

The two glared at each other, both expecting the other to react first and go on the offensive.

“Calm down you two.” The old man said as he stepped between them. “Voe, he says this girl is Force sensitive.”

“And that’s enough to just ignore what he did?” Voe questioned while she gestured to Ben on the stairs.

“I’m just saying that there’s something more important right now.” The old man explained before he began making his way up the steps towards Rey.

“My name is Luke.” He introduced himself.

“Rey.” She said, still trying to figure out what was going on. Noticing that Voe and Ben were still glaring at each other.

“I suppose you meant to take her to the council, right?” Luke turned to Ben.

“Right…” Ben muttered, trying to ignore the nervous sweat in his palms. He needed to get out of there.

“Most of them won’t be available now, but they should be in the morning.” Luke explained before turning to face Voe again. “Will you send them a message?”

“You’re just going to let him go!?” Voe called out as she threw her arm towards Ben. “People are  _ dead _ because of him!”

“ _ Voe! _ ” Luke said loudly, effectively quieting her as a result. “Please.”

“Yes master Skywalker…” She muttered before reluctantly turning around and leaving.

Rey’s attention had been focused on Ben throughout the exchange, noting his hands clenching and unclenching as Voe threw her accusations against him. What pulled her out of her thoughts was the mention of Luke’s family name.

He was Ben’s  _ family _ .

She remembered the name from Ben’s mind. No wonder he was so uncomfortable. She didn’t know the reasoning behind it, but she remembered how much he had avoided the subject.

“Rey.” Luke said, finally acknowledging her again. “You’ll need a place to stay before the council can meet you, we have room in my home if you want?”

Rey nodded, not sure what to say.

“Will you come too?” Luke then turned to Ben with a hopeful look in his eyes.

“No.” Ben stated and began making his way down the stairs and past Luke and Rey.

“They miss you…” Luke whispered, the hopefully look having become a sad one. “...We all do”

Ben stopped for a moment, his uncles words having hit a nerve. He had avoided this for so long, he did his damnedest to not even think about what his family might think. He’d convinced himself that they didn’t care and his uncle’s words so easily cracked that facade.

“I have business to attend to.” Ben muttered as he began walking again.

Something inside Rey didn’t want him to leave as she’d grown used to his company despite how infuriating he could be. She’d been alone for so long and meeting someone who understood that loneliness was a breath of fresh air.

Seeing his back go further away, she decided that this wasn’t how they would part and ran down the stairs and kept running until she reached him, grabbing his arm as she did. “Will I see you again?”

Ben didn’t know how to react, his mind was still reeling from everything that had just happened and Rey’s question put him on the spot. As he began walking away he had decided to never return but the way that she looked at him as she asked her question, it made him wonder if maybe coming back wouldn’t be so bad.

“I don’t know.” He finally answered her.

Rey nodded then as she let him go. “Thank you.”

He looked her over before he gave her a nod. Walking away slightly less tense than he had been just a little bit earlier.

The nervousness she had been feeling for so long was fading now, a new found strength within her as she watched Ben go further and further away. Finally she felt ready for what was ahead, she just had to hope that the Jedi council would be willing to train her.

“You two look like you had quite the adventure.” Luke said, having made his way next to Rey.

“Not really.” She admitted, it had been such a short time after all.

Luke looked her over, noting her somewhat wistful look. “Well, we should head off then.”

Rey nodded and followed the older man as he walked out of the Temple and guided her to the airbus station. It was a different one from earlier which made her wonder just how many of them they needed around the massive Temple.

Despite them taking a different route this time, the view was much of the same, a sea of transparisteel, durasteel and some duracrete with a seemingly endless flow of air-speeders slowly moving forward to their destinations.

She still stared out the window in awe at the sights.

The nervousness she believed was mostly gone hit her again with full force as they were off the airbus and standing in front of Luke’s home. It was a large estate that told Rey that these were people with some standing and suddenly she felt a little self conscious about her not so clean clothes and messy hair.

“Come on in, I’m sure everyone will love meeting you.” Luke said with a smile.

“Everyone?” Rey asked curiously, wondering how many lived in the large home.

“My parents, sister and her husband.” Luke explained.

“You all live together?” She wondered, the nervousness she was feeling being joined by some hopefulness of being with a family for once.

“Not always.” He began. “My sister usually stays on Alderaan when she isn’t on any senator business and I have my own chambers in the Temple. But if we’re all on Coruscant we try to stay together.”

Rey couldn’t help but smile, the Skywalkers had what she had always wanted and she couldn’t help but feel a little angry at Ben for seemingly just giving it up. She wondered what had happened, what he had done for him not to want to go home even if he had been invited.

Luke gestured for her to come inside as he opened the door, waiting in the foyer for her as she hesitantly made her way inside. She looked around, noting how homely everything looked so far despite the house being large enough to look like it belonged to some rich snobs. But even if she had just seen the entrance, it felt like what a normal home should feel like.

“Luke, is that you!” Someone called from inside the house, a woman from the sound of it.

“Yes, I have a guest.” Luke called back as he motioned for Rey to follow him further inside.

“A guest?” The woman said as she greeted them in the hallway.

She was old, with long, curly, white hair that reached right above her waist. Though her face showed her age, there was something very regal about her. She had an air of authority around her that told others not to mess about with her.

Rey instantly liked her.

“Oh, hello there sweetheart.” The old woman said as she came closer to the pair. “What’s your name?”

“Rey.” She said, a small smile creeping on her lips.

“Lovely to meet you Rey, I’m Padmé.” She introduced herself and offered her hand to shake.

Rey gingerly shook it, she wasn’t expecting the sweet approach of the woman and a part of her told her to be wary. Though somehow she knew that part of her was wrong.

“So why did my son bring you here?” Padmé asked as she looked over to Luke.

“She needs a place to stay for the night.” Luke explained. “I’m taking her to the council in the morning.”

“Oh, is that so.” Padmé said with a nod. “Well we certainly have room.”

Rey’s smile grew at that, she felt welcomed by the older woman and she wondered if her own grandmother was anything like Padmé. She hoped so.

“We should introduce you to the rest.” Padmé gestured to Rey to follow her, which Rey did without hesitation.

Luke couldn’t help but smile at the girls reaction. His mother certainly had a knack for getting people to like her.

“We have someone staying with us for the night.” Padmé stated as they entered the living room.

As Rey turned the corner and entered the room, there were three people sitting down on a couple of sofas. It was an old man, Padmé’s husband, Rey guessed from his age. And a couple of younger people, Luke’s sister and her husband.

What caught her attention as well were the couple of droids as well, a golden protocol droid by the looks of it and an R-series astromech as well.

“This is Rey.” Padmé introduced her as she placed her hand on the girl's shoulder.

“That’s my husband, Anakin.” She gestured to the old man that was sitting on his own, he had white hair like his wife and a neatly trimmed beard of the same colour.

“That’s my lovely daughter, Leia, and her husband, Han.” Padmé then gestured to the couple sitting on their own sofa, Leia had the same kind look in her eyes as Padmé did. Han on the other hand had the same look as Ben, though less intense.

“And those two are C-3PO and R2-D2, they’re like family too.” She finished off with.

Unsure what to say, Rey simply waved her hand at the three people she was just introduced to. For some reason she felt like they all gave off a warm feeling, a familiar one that she just couldn’t place.

She’d be lying if she said she didn’t like it.

“So how did Luke find you?” Anakin asked as he quirked his brow.

“Ben brought her.” Luke answered as he came to stand beside his mother.

Everyone in the room looked at Luke in surprise, their eyes going wide. Leia’s hand shot up to her mouth and Han grabbed her other hand.

“He was here?” Padmé whispered as she turned to face Luke.

“He was at the Temple.” Luke supplied. “I don’t know any more than that.”

“We made a deal.” Rey piped up to try and explain why he brought her there. “I’d fix his ship and he’d take me off Jakku.”

“How was he?” Leia asked quietly, with a hopeful look in her eyes.

“Grumpy.” Rey blurted out before she could think of a better answer.

Though her answer seemed to have been the right one as it caused everyone to smile.

“At least he hasn’t changed too much then.” Han chuckled as he squeezed Leia’s hand.

“I also may have sliced his face with a lightsaber…” Rey then admitted, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly.

Anakin laughed loudly at that, only stopping when he felt his wife’s glare. “Sorry, sorry.”

“Do you mind if I ask how that happened?” Anakin then asked as he wiped a tear from his eye.

“I snuck onto his ship, found a lightsaber and he startled me.” She couldn’t help but smile softly at the memory, she still felt guilty for hurting him but the old mans glee was contagious.

Han let out a huff of a laugh this time, obviously trying to hold in his laughter which Leia gently hit him on the shoulder for.

“He’s not too disfigured is he?” Han then asked once he’d managed to compose himself.

“No, they managed to patch him up on Corellia.” Rey said, enjoying the lighthearted mood.

“And here I thought you said there was no adventure?” Luke chuckled as he went to greet the astromech.

“How long were you travelling with him?” Leia asked this time.

“About a day I think.” Rey tried counting the hours in her mind, but without having anything to count the hours, she couldn’t be sure.

“Guess you must be tired then.” Leia smiled softly as she stood up from her place on the sofa. “Here, I’ll show you to your room.”

Rey hadn’t realized just how tired she was, the adrenaline from the nervousness and excitement having kept her alert and awake the whole time. Now she was coming down from that high and she could feel the exhaustion finally hit her.

She followed the older woman down a different hallway and up a flight of stairs. Despite the tiredness Rey felt in her eyes, she couldn’t help but notice a holopad sitting on an old looking sideboard.

The holopad was activated, displaying an image of something Rey craved - a family. She could tell that it was of Han and Leia, much younger as there was nary a gray hair on either of them. What caught her attention most was the young toddler they held. The dark hair and the scattering of moles were familiar enough, but it was the wide smile on Ben’s face that was a little strange to her.

“Mother must’ve forgotten to put it away.” Leia guessed as she moved to stand next to Rey, looking at the image of her family. “He was a good kid, troublesome, but good.”

“Troublesome sounds right.” Rey chuckled.

“Come on, room’s right here.” Leia said as she placed her arm on Rey’s back to guide her away.

When Rey saw the room they were offering her, she was surprised. It was bigger than she expected, not that she was sure what to expect in the first place. It was obviously an unused room judging by the lack of any distinct scent or items inside.

The bed caught her attention almost immediately. It was larger than she was used to, though her bunk in her old makeshift home could barely be considered a bed, as it was just enough for her to curl up on. But this bed looked soft and it was definitely large enough for her to spread out and still have room left.

“We don’t get a lot of guests so no one’s been here in a while.” Leia said as she took the duvet to shake it.

“It’s alright.” Rey affirmed, still standing in the doorway, unsure of what to do.

“Did you have any family on Jakku?” The older woman asked as she finished preparing the bed.

Rey was quiet for a moment, it was an easy question to answer but for some reason she hesitated. “...no.”

“I’m so sorry.” Leia said as she moved back to stand by Rey, placing her hand on her shoulder. “Must have been tough living there on your own.”

“I managed.” Rey shrugged, she’d never really put too much thought in the fact that she had survived on Jakku while young.

The two women were interrupted by a knock on the open door.

“I brought some of my old nightgowns.” Padmé explained as she placed the bundle of clothes on a desk in the room. “You’re quite a bit taller than me but, I wore very long gowns so it should fit.”

“You didn’t need to bring every single one, mother.” Leia said as she rolled her eyes at her mother.

“I wanted to give her options.” Padmé defended herself.

Rey was barely registering what the older women were saying, her eyes locked on the bundle of clothes resting on the desk. She couldn’t remember a point in her life where she was shown this much kindness, she didn’t even tell them that she had nothing else to wear.

She didn’t even realize that tears were freely streaming down her face.

“Oh sweetie are you alright?” Padmé asked once she noticed Rey’s tears.

She wiped the tears from her eyes as she sniffed. “Yeah, just….thank you.”

“Oh, child.” Padmé said as she gave the young girl an understanding look. “It’s been tough, hasn’t it.”

Rey only nodded as the older woman wrapped her arms around her.

“I knew someone like that, he had a tough time growing up.” Padmé began. “He had to get used to being shown kindness.”

Leia simply sat down as her mother told the story of her father. She knew better than to interrupt the old woman, not that she wanted to at that moment.

“He kept most people at an arm's length, though he’d say he was just being careful.” Padmé continued. “It took him a while to trust others, but he got there eventually.”

Rey finally brought herself to hug the older woman back, gingerly wrapping her arms around her and clutching the soft gown she wore. She wondered if the ones she offered her were just as soft.

“This might be a little overwhelming for you right now. I’m sorry for that.” Padmé apologized as she kept holding the young girl, gently stroking her back.

Rey was the one to pull away from the hug, as much as she enjoyed it, some part of her was on high alert because of it. This was all so new, they’d taken her in without question and offered her so much. Her survivalist side was screaming at her that there would be a catch, that this was too good to be true. But another part of her told her that everything was alright, and for once she could sleep with both eyes closed.

She decided to trust that part.

“I’ll go get you some water.” Padmé said, hesitating before she turned to leave. “Do you want something to eat?”

“Mother, don’t overexert yourself.” Leia piped up, finally standing up again.

“I know, I know dear. I’ll get Threepio to bring it.” Padmé threw her arms up in defense. “So, water and food?”

“Water’s just fine.” Rey was surprised she’d say no to any food, but she didn't want to impose and she didn’t feel hungry.

“Alright, sweetie.” And with that Padmé was gone, leaving Leia and Rey alone together.

“I think she misses caring for someone.” Leia admitted with a soft smile.

“She’s very nice.” Rey stated quietly.

“She’s a real bleeding heart.” Leia chuckled. “Although you wouldn’t think that if you’d seen her leading the senate.”

“Leading the senate?” Rey asked, she had some vague knowledge of how the republic worked but even so it was very limited.

“She’s the chancellor, though she’s been thinking of retiring.” Leia explained as she began going through the night gowns her mother had brought. “We can clean your clothes if you want?”

Rey’s eyes went wide with surprise, she hadn’t even thought about her own clothes, never needed to. She hoped that she didn’t smell bad and even if she did, no one seemed to have noticed. “That would be nice...thank you.”

Leia nodded and gestured to another door in the room. “The Refresher is in there if you want to wash up, just leave your clothes by the door, we’ll have someone pick them up.”

If she wasn’t so tired, she would have jumped at the chance to use the ‘fresher. But at the moment all she wanted to do was curl up in the soft looking bed and sleep so she hoped she would have time the next morning.

“Well, I should leave you to it.” Leia said with a smile. “Don’t be too surprised if C-3PO starts talking your ear off.”

Then the older woman left, leaving Rey alone in the room. She stood around awkwardly for a moment, unsure if she should wait for, what she guessed would be a droid, or if she should undress and get into bed.

Luckily she didn’t need to make the decision as the golden droid arrived, holding a tray of water and some berries she couldn’t fully identify.

“Good evening, I am C-3PO, human cyborg relations. I’ve brought you some refreshments.” He introduced himself.

“Hello.” Rey simply said before she realized that she should probably introduce herself. “I’m Rey.”

“It is lovely to meet you miss Rey.” Threepio said as he placed the tray on the desk, next to the bundle of clothes. “I have been instructed to leave as you might be quite tired from your travels.”

“Oh uhm...yeah.” She answered, not really knowing what else to say.

“Well then, I bid you goodnight.” The droid said with a short bow before turning to leave.

“Goodnight” Rey muttered as she watched him leave, the door closing behind him.

She looked over to the tray he had just brought, curious about the assortment of berries. But she didn’t focus on them for too long as a yawn reminded her just how tired her body was. So she quickly undressed, leaving her clothes in a pile by the door like she had been instructed and picked a soft, white nightgown from the bundle that had been brought to her.

She stood for a moment, marveling at the feel of the fabric against her skin. It was softer than anything she had worn before, and she could imagine sleeping in it was going to feel  _ amazing _ . So she quickly made her way into the plush bed.

She had taken a few berries with her into the bed, nibbling on them as she got comfortable. A part of her was afraid of falling asleep as she didn’t want to wake up only to realize she was back in her makeshift home on Jakku. Her current situation felt like a dream which made her wonder why Ben could ever leave.

Eventually Rey’s exhaustion caught up with her and she fell asleep, a couple of berries still in her hand as she softly snored and dreamt of a familiar, tall, dark-haired figure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And on we go!
> 
> Took me a little bit longer than I would have liked but I have a con coming up and I really left this cosplay to the last minute and so that's taking up most of my time I have to write, I'll try to get a chapter up next week but it might be a little late as well.


	4. A Family

Rey woke up confused, though not from her surroundings. She could remember where she fell asleep, what confused her was her dream. She could barely remember it but it was familiar, something she thought she’d dreamt of before.

Deciding not to focus on it, she slid out of the bed and stretched her arms high into the air. She had no idea how long she had slept but for once she felt properly rested, she wasn’t sure if it was the comfort of the bed or the fact that she felt safe for once.

Moving to the window, she saw that the sun was just peeking up over the horizon. Rey didn’t know when she would be seeing the Jedi council but with a quick look towards the refresher, she decided that they probably wouldn’t see her right then and there.

She made her way through the doors and was greeted with probably the cleanest ‘fresher she had ever seen. All polished and shiny, she almost felt bad about using it. She knew that the communal showers on Jakku were a dump but the difference was almost comical.

Gingerly, Rey made her way inside.  _ This is probably silly _ , she thought as she slowly looked around the room. Noticing the expensive looking soaps lining a shelf in the shower, it was a little intimidating. She had never really had the luxury of using soaps before, save for the occasional bar that made its way to the communal showers.

Somehow she finally managed to get herself cleaned instead of gawking around the luxurious room. The water had been warmer than she was used to but as Coruscant wasn’t a scorching desert, it didn’t surprise her. She was thankful that each of the soaps had clear labels and instructions in Aurebesh and was pleasantly surprised that she now smelled of some flowers she didn’t even know existed.

It was all a little surreal.

She had put the nightgown back on as she wasn’t sure where her own clothes had been taken to. Though she was glad to know her small pouch was resting on the desk, a small bit of comfort. Though the only contents of the pouch were a few tools she wouldn’t be needing anytime soon.

It was a little awkward looking, the nightgown bunched up around her waist as she wrapped her belt and pouch around her. But Rey rarely cared about the way she looked, and having something of hers with her in an unfamiliar place was a little safety line.

She hadn’t put her hair back into her signature buns, letting her hair dry completely before she would mess about with it for once while she didn’t need to worry about anyone trying to grab her by her hair.

Rey looked outside the window again, seeing that the sun was now a little bit higher up in the sky. She wondered if anyone was awake, she didn’t know if they worked on a similar schedule to what she had grown accustomed to on Jakku.

She winced at the loud hiss of the door opening, hoping that no one was asleep near her room. She didn’t know much about the layout of the manor as she had only really seen the foyer, living room and a couple of hallways. She just hoped she could still navigate said hallways and find someone who could help her out.

Luckily, it didn’t take her very long to run into a familiar face. Han had been shuffling down the hallway a little ahead of Rey so it didn’t take her very long to catch up with him.

“Oh kid, you’re up early.” Han said as Rey caught up with him.

“I’m used to waking up with the sun.” She explained as they walked down the stairs.

“Oh you’ll fit right in with the Jedi then, group of early risers the lot of them.” Han huffed, clearly speaking from some sort of experience.

Rey smiled at his remark, it made the Jedi seem a little more real and less mythical to her.

“You sleep alright?” He then asked as he finished shuffling down the steps.

“Yeah, it was...nice.” Rey didn’t know what other word to use, not wanting to seem a little too enthusiastic about the bed or soaps.

“Wasn’t too much was it?” He chuckled, knowing all too well what had probably been going through her head.

“It was different.” She said as she scratched the back of her neck.

“Yeah, I get that, I’m still getting used to it.” Han admitted, running his hand through his hair.

His gesture reminded Rey a lot of Ben and she wondered if he had picked it up from his father. She then remembered his name, Han - “You’re Han Solo, the smuggler? Right?”

“I used to be.” He said with an amuse grin that had a hint of something a little bitter behind it.

She didn’t fully understand his answer but decided not to pry much further, instead moving on. “Do you still have the  _ Millenium Falcon _ ?”

“Why’re you asking?” He asked as he quirked his brow.

“I’m just curious, it’s a Corellian Freighter right?” she questioned further. “The same ship that made the Kessel Run in fourteen parsecs!”

“Twelve!” He corrected her, clearly offended by the wrong number.

Though Rey felt bad about offending him, she was more transfixed on the fact that the number had been lower than she initially thought. Her mouth hung open in awe, she really hoped he still had the ship around, she’d love to look around.

“To answer the question, I still have her, though she doesn't see much action nowadays.” Han explained with a wistful sigh.

Rey had a thousand more questions for the older man but before she could ask any of them they entered a room she hadn’t been in before. She was sure that it was a dining room judging by the large table in the center of it with matching chairs around it. Some of which were occupied by the rest of the Skywalker family.

Padmé sat at the head of the table, leaning forward as Anakin, who was sitting to her right, was telling her something. Next to Anakin was Luke, who was silently eating while his father spoke. On Padmés left, was Leia, who was rolling her eyes at whatever her father had just said.

“Rey, you’re awake.” Luke was the first to speak, his surprise evident. “I was going to let you sleep in.”

“Good morning, Rey.” Leia was the next to speak up before shooting Han a look that Rey couldn’t quite put a finger on.

“Good morning.” Rey said back, her hand moving up in a small wave.

“Oh Rey, please have a seat.” Padmé said as she stood up to show Rey a seat.

“Mother, you don’t need to show her the chair.” Leia sighed as she shook her head.

“Oh hush, I just want her to feel welcome.” Padmé explained as Rey sat down in the chair she had pulled out next to Luke.

“And I’m just looking out for my aging mother.” Leia shot back, giving her husband a pat on the shoulder as he sat down next to her.

There was an abundance of food laid out on the table, mostly fruits and some breads Rey noticed, there were thin slices of some sort of meats and other things she couldn’t quite recognize. Though she couldn’t name over half the foodstuffs on the table, it all looked incredibly, mouthwateringly, delicious.

“You’re looking at that food like a starving Rancor.” Anakin chuckled as he noticed Rey practically drooling at the food. “Eat as much as you like.”

Rey didn’t need to be told twice as she started piling the food on the plate laid out in front of her, trying things she didn’t recognise as she picked them up to see if she liked them. She found that she liked pretty much everything, especially the berries she recognized from the night before.

“Damn kid, leave some for the rest of us.” Han chuckled, putting food on his own plate.

“Shut up Han, she’s been living on Jakku, can’t imagine she’s had a lot of proper food.” Leia said as she playfully hit her husband on the shoulder.

“Just this and on Corellia.” Rey admitted, her mouth full of some bread.

“Corellia, huh?” Han questioned, his brow quirking up with curiosity.

“Ben treated me.” She absentmindedly stated as she kept stuffing her face.

“Seems like some of the things we taught him stuck.” Han chuckled as he bit down into a fruit.

“Oh because it was you who taught him manners.” Leia shot him a questioning look.

“Hey! I taught him some manners.” Han jabbed back playfully.

“Oh yes, the manners of which to evade trouble with the law.” Leia joked as well, some heaviness of the subject having lifted.

“Now now you two, no flirting at the breakfast table.” Padmé interjected with a small smile. “And I’m pretty sure  _ I _ was the one who taught Ben manners.”

The family laughed at that remark, Rey didn’t fully understand or know if there was any prior context to their small banter, but she laughed along with them. Though she would admit that good manners was one of the furthest things she would associate with Ben.

It was obvious that they clearly still loved him and missed him dearly. And she couldn’t help but be envious, Ben had something that she wanted so badly and he had just abandoned it. Envy wasn’t the only thing she was feeling, she could feel the anger bubbling to the surface.

She had to know why.

“Why won’t he come back?” She asked, surprised by how calm she sounded.

The room went quiet, everyone was surprised by her sudden question.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t….” Rey fumbled over her words, realizing that maybe it wasn’t the right time to ask.

“It’s alright kid.” Han reassured her. “I’m guessing Ben didn’t tell you.”

Rey shook her head.

“There was an accident about six years ago now.” It was Luke who spoke this time. “You probably heard Voe last night, people died and Ben took the blame.”

“That’s not all, is it?” Rey asked.

“No...but the whole situation was enough for him to leave the order.” Luke explained, not wanting to elaborate much further.

“Wait, Ben was a Jedi!?” She asked, the shock evident in her expression. Though she realized that it made all too much sense, it had gone completely over her head.

“He wasn’t for very long but he was officially a Jedi knight.” Luke chuckled, a wistful look in his eyes.

“He is the exact opposite of what I’d expect a Jedi to be…” Rey blurted out, to trapped in her own head as she tried puzzling together each possibly clue.

Anakin laughed loudly at that, causing everyone’s attention to move on to him. “I have to agree with her on that, smart kid, great pilot and exceptional combat skills, but he has the temper of a Wampa.”

“Because you’re the paragon of temper control.” Padmé quirked her brow, giving her husband a pointed look.

“We all know that I get mine from somewhere.” Leia then pointed out, giving her father the same look.

“Pretty sure your temper is a brand of its own.” Han jabbed, earning an eye roll from his wife and a laugh from Luke.

Rey noticed that the subject had changed quite quickly, partially because of herself. Though she realized that the family didn’t want to talk much about it due to the harsh memories attached. She wondered if simple communication would solve this issue, but she didn’t know the whole story so she wouldn't be sure, nor was she an expert on family issues.

“Ah, Chancellor, the meeting with Senator Dand is to take place in one hour.” C-3PO said as he shuffled into the dining room.

“Thank you Threepio.” Padmé nodded as she stood up from her seat. She looked over to Rey. “Good luck with the council.”

Rey nodded at the older women before she turned and left the dining room, Anakin followed shortly afterwards, mentioning something about dealing his own business that Rey didn’t really listen to as the older man left.

“We should probably head off soon as well.” Luke said as he finished his blue milk.

“My clothes…” Rey mentioned, gesturing to the bunched up nightgown she still wore.

“Are probably clean by now.” Leia spoke up. “I’ll make sure they get to your room, that alright?”

“Uhm, yes, thank you.” Rey nodded and stood up from the table, eyeing some of the fruit that still sat at the center of the table.

“You can take some…” Han said with a grin as he quirked his brow.

A soft blush dusted Rey’s cheeks as he grabbed a couple of fruits before heading back to her room. Having figured out the way back, she’d always been good at finding her way through unfamiliar places.

Once she was back in her room, she wasn’t sure what to do other than wait for her clothes to be delivered. She felt a little bit guilty, having them all dote on her as if she was their own child, a part of her felt like she owed them for their hospitality. Holding up one of the fruits she had taken, she wondered if she ever even could pay them back, they’d given her the one thing she’d wished for for so long.

She was abruptly taken out of her thoughts when she heard a knock on her door.

“I have your clothes.” Leia called through the door.

Rey opened the door to let her in, seeing the familiar bundle of clothes in the older woman’s arms. Though she noticed that it looked lighter than before with all the dirt and grime now gone.

“I don’t think they’ve ever been that clean.”Rey muttered under her breath.

“Well I don’t expect Jakku to have water in enough excess to clean clothes regularly.” Leia said as she handed the clothes over.

Rey didn’t respond, instead she dropped her clothes on the bed and began undressing. Normally she wouldn’t undress in front of anyone else, being vulnerable like that was a dangerous thing on Jakku. But she was comfortable with Leia, she felt safe so she wasn’t bothered when she removed the borrowed nightgown.

If Leia was bothered by her undressing in front of her, she didn’t say anything, simply staying quiet as Rey quickly got dressed in the same clothes she had worn for a very long time, this being the first time they felt nice to put on. The dirt having made them coarse and irritating at times.

“Here, I’ll help you with your hair.” Leia said as she pulled out a chair for Rey to sit.

Not knowing how to react, Rey did as the older woman said, sitting down to let the woman do her hair. While she sat down, Leia went into the refresher to get a brush and a couple of other things Rey couldn’t see properly.

It was a quiet affair, Leia brushing Rey’s hair, braiding it and pulling it up. It was an odd moment for Rey, only having vague memories of someone doing something like this for her when she was a child.

“I tried doing it in a way you’d be familiar with.” Leia explained once she was done, handing Rey a mirror.

Rey was a little surprised that she really did make it familiar, her signature three buns were still there but each was wrapped by braids pulled from the sides. It was simple but way more intricate than anything she had ever even attempted. 

“Thank you.” Rey muttered, fingers tracing over the braids in her hair.

“You’re welcome, now go, Luke’s waiting downstairs.” Leia chuckled.

Handing Leia the mirror and thanking her once more, Rey was out the door, jogging down the hallway and stairs where Luke was waiting for her.

“Ready to go?” Luke asked more as a courtesy.

Rey nodded enthusiastically, the nervousness and excitement that had died down hitting her again with full force.

“Good, I’ve let them know what happened so it shouldn’t take long.” Luke explained as he began walking towards the front door.

Once outside and on the airbus heading towards the Jedi Temple, Rey finally found the courage to ask. “What’s going to happen?”

“We will want to know how strong your connection to the Force is.” Luke said, scratching the back of his neck. “Next it’s making the decision to train you.”

“We?” Rey asked, surprised by his choice of words.

“Oh, I’m a council member.” Luke explained nonchalantly. “And don’t worry, the fact that Ben felt the need to bring you in, I don’t expect the decision to train you to be difficult.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were a council member?” Rey questioned, more focused on his confession.

“It didn’t seem important at the time.” Luke shrugged.

“I’d say it’s pretty important all things considered.” Rey was wholly focused on how Luke had seemed much more human than she expected the Jedi council to be.

She knew that the council wouldn’t just consist of human or even humanoid species, she just expected them to be these mystical wizards, all knowing and ineffable in all ways. Instead she had breakfast with a very average old man she wouldn’t really find too out of place on Jakku.

This revelation was nice as she didn’t feel as nervous about being evaluated by the council, if they were all like Luke then it didn’t seem as scary anymore. Of course she still had no idea if her connection to the Force was strong or not, in her defense she’d only found out she was apparently Force sensitive a couple of days ago.

“I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.” Luke chuckled awkwardly. “But I mean what I said, it’s going to be a quick affair, most likely just a formality.”

“Are you sure?” Rey asked, wondering if the formality was even necessary in the first place.

“Mostly, the Council still mostly works on the old ways even if the Order had changed a lot in the past fifty years.” Luke explained with a sigh.

“How come the change is so recent?” Rey now wondered, surprised that something so old would need to change.

“The Jedi were…..flawed.” Luke began, thinking hard about what words to use. “During the Clone Wars a lot of those flaws came to light and a decision was made to change some of the rules.”

“Like what?” Rey asked curiously.

“Jedi weren’t allowed to marry for instance, my father was the main reason they changed that rule actually.” He chuckled with a fond smile forming on his lips. “He had married my mother in secret right around the start of the Clone Wars actually, I’ve been told that the Jedi Council back then wasn’t very happy about that.”

“That seems like a pretty stupid rule…” She pointed out.

“Many agree with that statement, turns out you can’t stop people from falling in love.” Luke shrugged. “You just have to be careful not to open yourself to the dark side for a pair of pretty eyes.”

A part of Rey doubted that it would be an issue, falling in love wasn’t anywhere near her top priorities. “Did it happen often?”

“Jedi falling in love?” Luke asked to confirm, earning a nod from her. “For what I have been told, I’d say it was most common during the Clone Wars. With my father, Master Secura and even Uncle Ben.”

“I know that once the rule was changed there were more, Master Kestis and Master Jarrus for example, the latter even having a kid around Ben’s age. Needless to say, falling in love isn’t frowned upon within the order…” Luke explained, opening his mouth as if he wanted to say something more but stopped himself before he said it.

Most of the names he had mentioned meant nothing to Rey but she could tell that they were people that mattered to the older man. But she noticed him trailing off. “There’s a but, isn’t there?”

“The reason why it was frowned upon is because attachments can lead to the dark side.” He stated with a knowing look in his eyes. “When the one you love is in danger, you would do anything to save them because you can’t let go.”

“It almost sounds like you’re against it.” She stated.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against it.” Luke defended himself. “My father...he almost fell because he had visions of my mother dying. So the dangers of not being able to let go could have torn my family apart.”

She was speechless, the Skywalkers had seemed so perfect despite the drama surrounding Ben. It was hard to believe that anything could have torn them apart and she was curious about what happened. What stopped her from asking was herself, she didn’t want to pry judging from the grim look on Luke’s face, this was obviously something in his family history he wasn't proud of.

“You can consider this your first lesson I suppose.” He chuckled, a sad tone underneath. “Attachments are alright, but you need to know when to let go.”

Rey simply nodded, his words hitting a little too close to home. She had waited for her parents on Jakku for so long holding on to the hope that had kept her going for so long. She knew he was right, but she decided to hold on for a little while longer.

But for now she would need to learn about whatever had awakened within her. To be able to understand it instead of fear it.

They remained quiet for the rest of the trip on the airbus, the heavy conversation they had just had was enough to last them a good while. Instead they both looked at the cityscape whiz by through the window, Rey was still amazed by the view, the sun now higher up in the sky and view much clearer than the night before where she mostly just saw the lights of air speeders in their lanes and the lights shining through the windows of the buildings. But now she could see the city in all its glory, the glinting of sunlight as it hit the durasteel buildings, where said durasteel became duracrete the further down she looked. It was a city with so much history she would probably never be able to learn it all.

“We’re off on the next stop.” Luke pointed out, breaking the silence that had fallen between them.

Instead of responding, Rey instead looked towards the direction the airbus was traveling in and she saw the massive Temple. Somehow it was even more imposing in the daylight, the spires now looking even larger as they reached out towards the sun.

In a way, the Jedi Temple had a more mythical air around it than the Jedi did.

As the airbus came to a stop and Rey and Luke stepped onto the platform, she wasn’t as nervous as when she had first stepped onto the airbus, instead she was more determined. She finally felt ready to face the Jedi council.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating last week but as I mentioned before, lots of con crunching kept me a bit to busy to write.  
> But Cosplay's went great and con was super fun and I managed to get enough writing done to be able to post this chapter today yay!
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!


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